Gleason's Sporting World: LeBron's terrific, but he's no Jordan

Points to ponder while wondering if we can shelve the LeBron James-Michael Jordan comparisons for now.

Kevin Gleason

Points to ponder while wondering if we can shelve the LeBron James-Michael Jordan comparisons for now.

I get that it's probably the slowest period for sports all year. The NFL is over and baseball's just getting started and the NBA and NHL have a ways to go. I realize talk-radio hosts need to find compelling topics to fill their time. And I realize that outrageous statements typically work quite well on the dials.

But can we all please stop advancing the idea that James is better than Jordan, unless we are referring to this very moment, with MJ turning 50 on Sunday.

Don't get me wrong: James is the first player who deserves mention in the same sentence as Jordan since MJ left the game for good a decade ago. And it is fair to wonder if, by the time he exits, James will have put together a comparable career.

Just not now.

And with LeBron having at least another six seasons in the tank, barring major injury, it's kind of silly to predict how much he will narrow the gap or surpass Jordan when it's all over.

Why is so much energy being spent comparing a player whose career is incomplete to one of the best basketball players of all time?

In my book, Jordan is the best player ever. I don't believe the comparison should be all about titles won, as some people, including Jordan himself, want us to believe. But James is going to have to come an awful lot closer to Jordan's six than the one that LBJ has at the moment.

And it wouldn't hurt if he quit for almost two seasons and returned to win three more NBA titles and Finals MVPs, as Jordan did.

That wouldn't hurt at all.

Did we expect Kevin Youkilis to declare himself a lifelong Yankee and produce one of those phony I've-always-dreamed-of-playing-for-the-Yanks speeches upon his arrival? I didn't, and I'm glad he refrained from bowing to the Stadium statues like so many others during initial news conferences.

He should always have a special place in his heart for the Sox. He spent 8﻿1/2 of his first nine seasons with Boston.

Speaking of the Yanks, I can't say I accelerated into a full-fledged state of panic upon hearing their ticket sales are down.

No, it's not rough for the Yankees, Lonn. It's rough for the millions of New Yorkers trying to carve decent livings off stagnant salaries, at least those who haven't been laid off, and always-rising taxes and fees. It's rough for a couple trying to get their two kids to a game that will, by the time it's over, cost the family in the neighborhood of $400 thanks to obscene prices. That's rough.

You hear that, Mets fans? The Wilpons say they are going to dig into their wallets.

Next season.

Isn't that special?

They promise just one more season of shopping at Walmart.

So ignore that six-season streak of them missing the playoffs and come out to the ballpark this season, you hear?

That doesn't mean, for the record, that the Mets should sign every high-priced free agent to come along, including the most recent, Michael Bourn, who took the Indians for way too much money.

The difference between these Mets and many of their past teams might be that when Fred Wilpon does open his wallet, a qualified personnel man named Sandy Alderson will be smart about spending it.

The Mets already have made three terrific decisions. They got a bundle for R.A. Dickey while saving a ton in payroll. They passed on Bourn. And they made it clear to Johan Santana that he shouldn't drag his arm into the World Baseball Classic.

Frankly, and I say this with respect to nationalism, I can't imagine why any big-league pitcher would participate in the WBC.

Like a full major-league season doesn't stress the old arm enough?

Heck, if I had the power, I would write into their contracts forbidding them to play.

Johan Santana playing in the WBC? How about easing into the season so he can be around come September?

So Jose Reyes is ticked at Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria for trading him. Where does Reyes stand on the six-year, $106 million contract Loria handed him, a contract he will collect if he's in Florida or Fargo, N.D?

Is Reyes still OK with those numbers?

Because there are a lot of people who should be upset with Loria for his team's latest payroll purge. You can start with every single one of their fans, then add the players stuck on a team with little direction.

Jose Reyes isn't one of those people. Not even close.

Reyes, in fact, should be sending Loria weekly thank-you notes for releasing him from that baseball asylum.

I swore off sports talk radio for a while, and I dare say it marked some of the finest days of my life. But old habits die hard, and so I'm back to agonizing through the maze of arrogance littered with stupidity and touched up by a sprinkling of smart, well-researched thoughts.

Now I keep returning to an ever-pressing thought:

How much time do guys spend on trade proposals before calling up the talk-radio station?

Because about 99 percent of those trade proposals sound like they were spawned from an express line at ShopRite.